George Eyston (OBE, MC, Legion d'honneur)
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Between 1926 and 1954, Captain George Edward Thomas Eyston broke dozens of speed records at Brooklands, Montlhery, Pendine Sands, & Bonneville Salt Flats, in cars ranging in size from 750cc M.G.'s to the 5,000 b.h.p. Thunderbolt. Highlights of his motor-racing career include winning the Boulogne G.P. on 28th August 1926, driving a Bugatti T39, and winning the La Baule G.P. on 25th August 1927, driving a Bugatti 35B. His first record was set at the end of 1927, driving a 1.5 litre Bugatti GP car at Brooklands, to set a new 1 hour record. Early in 1930, co-driving with Ernest Eldridge, the Class G (1100cc) 1000 mile record was raised to 67.8mph, driving a Riley Nine 'Monaco' saloon at Montlhery. Then in May, they set eight Class G records upto 5000 kms & 48 hours. On 31st December 1930, he began his series of records for M.G. Driving an unsupercharged M.G.Midget EX120 , at the Montlhery circuit in France, Class H (750cc) records were set for 50 kms at 86.38 mph, 50 miles at 87.11 mph, 100 kms at 87.30 mph. Returning to Montlhery, on 9th February 1931, he drove the now supercharged 743cc M.G. to Class H records over 5 kms, 5 miles, 10 kms & 10 miles. Then, on 16th February, Class H record speeds were raised to 103.13 mph over 5 kms, 102.76 mph over 5 miles, 102.43 mph over 10 kms, & 101.86 mph over 10 miles. At Brooklands on 13th March 1931, further records were set at 97.09 mph over the flying kilometre & 96.93 mph over the mile. In the summer of 1931, driving a streamlined Riley Nine, Class G records were set for 1 hour, 50 kms, 50 miles, 100kms, 100 miles, 200 kms, all at speeds over 108 mph. Then, with co-driver Albert Denly, records for 200 miles, 500 kms, 3 hours, 500 miles, 6 hours, and 1000 kms. On 25th September 1931, driving EX120 at Montlhery, he achieved an average speed of 101.1 mph for 1 hour, as well as Class H records over 50 kms, 50 miles, 100 kms & 100 miles. On 22nd December 1931, the M.G. "Magic Midget" EX127 was taken to Montlhery, and set Class H records of 114.77 mph over 5 kms, 114.74 mph over 5 miles, 114.72 mph over 10 kms, and 114.46 mph over 10 miles. On 8th February 1932, Eyston drove the 750cc supercharged "Magic Midget", at a Class H record speed of 118.39 miles per hour at Pendine Sands. Later in February 1932, Eyston returned to Montlhery with a 4 litre Delage, setting Class C (3-5 litre) 200 miles & 500 miles records, plus World 500 kms & 3 hour records, at speeds of 117 mph; then with co-drivers Kaye Don & Albert Denly set World records for 1000 kms, 6 hours, 1000 miles & 2000 kms, and Class C record for 12 hours. In October, with co-drivers Albert Denly & E.McLure, he drove a 1.5 litre Riley to Class F (1500cc) records over 12 hours, 2000 kms, 24 hours, & 3000 kms. On 13th December 1932, driving "Magic Midget", he became the first man to drive a course at two miles per minute in a 'baby' car. Class H records were established at 120.56 mph over 1 km & 1 mile, 120.52 mph over 5 kms & 116.7 mph over 5 miles, & 117.42 mph over 10 kms. Shortly after, with co-drivers Albert Denly & Tommy Wisdom, he drove a J3 M.G. Midget to Class H records over 1000 miles, 2000 kms, & 24 hours. On 21st/22nd December 1932, the "Magic Midget" driven by Eyston & Denly set more records over 200 kms, 200 miles, 3 hours, 500 kms, & 12 hours. In October 1933, at Montlhery, he set up 6 class records in a M.G.Magna car, with co-drivers Denly, T.H.Wisdom, & R.A.Yallop. These were 12 hours - avg.81.23 mph, 1000 miles - 81.25mph, 2000km - 80.75mph, 3000km - 80.57mph, 2000 miles - 80.49mph, and 24 hours - 80.56mph. In October 1934, a striped 1100cc supercharged MG EX135 nicknamed "Humbug", set 12 class records at Montlhery, including a class record speed of 128.69 miles per hour.
At Montlhery In March 1932, he drove his 8 litre Panhard-Levassor to the World 1 hour record at 130.73 mph, and World 100 kms, 100 miles & 200 kms records, & Class B (5-8 litre) 50 kms record. In 1934. he set a World record over 200 kms at 214.1 km/h.
In 1933 on 27th October, Eyston drove a diesel-powered car at Brooklands, to a new speed record of 104.86 miles per hour for the mile, and 106.65 miles per hour for the kilometre. A 24-Hour record was set at Montlhery in March 1934.
In 1935 and 1936, George Eyston drove the front-wheel drive
"Speed of the Wind", powered by a 400 b.h.p Rolls-Royce Kestrel
engine at Bonneville USA, covering 3372.5 miles to set a 24-Hour
Record of 140.52 miles per hour on 16/17th September 1935.
Twenty records were set in August 1936, including the 24-Hour
record at 149.10 miles per hour, as well as a 1-Hour Record of
162 miles per hour, a 12-Hour Record of 149.02 miles per hour,
and a 48-Hour Record in 1936 of 136.34 miles per hour. In 1936, the chassis was refitted with a 17-litre Ricardo V12 Diesel engine, and renamed "Flying Spray", set a record for diesel-engined cars, of 158.87 miles per hour over the measured mile, and 159.1 mph over 1 kilometre. In November 1937, "Speed of the Wind", driven by Eyston & Denly, increased the 24-Hour record to 163.68 miles per hour.
At Montlhery on 4th January 1936, Eyston set a new record for 1
hour at an average speed of 103 miles per hour. Then, in
February 1936, and on 27th April 1937,
Returning the following year, with a modified nose and tail and an enclosed cockpit, in competition with John Cobb's Railton, he increased the 1 Mile record to 345.50 miles per hour on 27th August, & the 1 Km record to 345.21 mph. After removing the tail and the radiator, Eyston set a 1 Mile speed of 357.50 miles per hour on 16th September, & a 1 Km speed of 357.3 mph, to beat the times set only the previous day by John Cobb.
Driving the 1500cc MG EX179 at Bonneville in 1954, with co-driver
Ken Miles, they set 8 international & 28 national records,
including the flying 10 miles at a
George Eyston
Web Links http://www.speedace.info/george_eyston.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eyston http://www.brooklandsarchives.com/ look in Galleries D1, E10 & S2 http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/world_land_speed_record_drivers_george_eyston.htm http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/world_land_speed_record_32.htm http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/History/Thunderbolt.html http://www.carkeys.co.uk/columns/ross_finlay/1511.asp http://www.historicracing.com/driversAlpha.cfm?fullText=1347&AlphaIndex=E http://www.topfoto.co.uk/gallery/ttraces/ppages/ppage18.htm
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